Our community of meditation and contemplation is devoted to training and nurturing those who deeply long for the direct experience of union with the eternal, pure center of consciousness, the bliss of being that is one with the absolute reality, as the wave who seeks to remember it is one with the ocean. One word for that union is "Yoga." The word "Abhyasa" means "practices." Abhyasa is purposefully choosing to do that which leads to "sthitau," which is a stable, steady, undisturbed inner calmness or tranquility. Abhyasa is one of the twin foundations of Yoga, along with Vairagya, the mental stance of non-attachment (Yoga Sutras 1.12-1.16). The root of the word Ashram is "shrama," which means "effort" or "striving." The hermitage or home of a swami or other person serving people in their efforts towards inner peace and spiritual awakening is called an Ashram. Thus, our community of meditation, contemplation and learning is known as Abhyasa Ashram. More than any physical location, it is really a place of the heart, an inner sanctuary of silence.

NEWS
We have started the process of incorporating the ashram and attaining nonprofit status. Over the coming year we will consolidate finances and seek to acquire or build a larger ashram. Details will be announced as known.

ONLINE MEETINGS
Regular online meetings, reviewing articles from SwamiJ.com and other sources, along with Q&A on general topics
Schedule and details: http://www.swamij.com/meetings.htm
Usually several times per week unless I am traveling and have no internet access

Click this link to join any of the meetings listed below (meeting ID 417556059):https://www.gotomeeting.com/join/417556059
Exceptions to the following regular schedules will be noted below the specific dates and times.

ARTICLES:
Yoga (as the term is used on SwamiJ.com)http://www.swamij.com/yoga-note.htm
Throughout this website the word "Yoga" is used in its traditional meaning of spiritual realization, rather than the revisionist meaning of Yoga as a physical fitness program.
Traditionally, Yoga (Sanskrit: union) has referred to the realization through direct experience of the preexisting union between Atman and Brahman, Jivatman and Paramatman, and Shiva and Shakti, or the realization of Purusha standing alone as separate from Prakriti. Yoga is the realization of union between the microcosm of individuality with the macrocosm of universality.

REFLECTIONS:
The most important trip you'll make in life
is the trip into meditation,
where you go nowhere.